Why it works: Celery and pepper match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 16,012 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓
Beef Tea
Ingredients
Directions
Dissolve 1 teaspoon of Armour's Beef Extract or 2 teaspoons of Armour's fluid beef extract in 1 pint of warm water, stirring until well mixed to create a delicious beef tea or bouillon.
Adjust seasoning with salt, celery salt, and pepper to taste.
If desired, add a splash of port wine or sherry.
For added nutrition, drop a fresh egg into the hot beef tea.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.
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Celery + peppertop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together16,012 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Beef + peppertop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,971 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Beef + celerytop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,370 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Beef + port winetop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together626 recipes
Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).
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Celery + port winetop 19% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together261 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-methoxy-4-vinylphenol (clove, smoky).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Beef extract
- Provides the concentrated beef flavour that makes up the whole broth.
Swap the celery
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, pepper, port wine, egg):
- Parsleyfits better
- Marjoramfits about as well
- Nutmegfits about as well
- Celerythe original
Fit is the average pairing score against beef, pepper, port wine, egg. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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